Pages

Saturday, February 27, 2016

AN EPIC VISUAL GUIDE TO DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES

The only thing more difficult than building software for a client, is explaining how software is built to a client.

So we sat down to explain this incredibly complicated concept the only way we knew how - with pictures, and with cars:

Few people know this, but before Toggl became a successful time tracking app, we used to build software for other companies.

One of the biggest, persisting issues we had, was the gap between how clients see software development and how development works out in practice. Endless negotiations over budgets are perhaps the most obvious symptom here, but the divide is wider than that.

AGILE DEVELOPMENT - WHERE DOES THE CLIENT INVOLVEMENT STOP?

The Waterfall model, where development follows a linear path from nailing down requirements to delivery and maintenance, seems all but gone these days. Unless you're working on particularly big projects, you're better off following an agile development methodology.

The agile mindset is grounded in the fact that clients often don't know what exactly they want from a piece of software. Agile teams work in a transparent manner and keep the client involved in the development process to make sure the end result matches their actual needs as closely as possible.

It's like buying a suit from the shop rather than online - you won't ever know if it fits or how it looks on you until you try it out. And ideally, you'd have a tailor make it fit your shape.

Buying software from an agile team is like getting a tailored suit.

Except that the client wants to pay for a stock suit and if something needs fitting, they want to hold the thread while you needle away.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DEVELOPMENT TIME

While agile development is about transparency and cooperation, you still need to protect your time. Here's a few things that you may have heard clients say:

- "Can I sit with you so we can work on this together?"

- "Can we squeeze in (this huge feature) real quick, it's very small and shouldn't be very hard."

- "I have a friend who could do this in a day, could we do this at half price?"

- "Can we go back to the first version? Also we shouldn't pay for this if we won't be using the code."

These scenarios can cost you a lot of time and money if you don't stand your ground. Your first line of defense is a good project management system.

If you need to be able to respond to unexpected issues or maintenance stuff, use a Kanban board. A Kanban board is essentially a to-do list that imposes a strict limit on how many work items can be in progress at a given time. It's a great system for keeping your team from getting overwhelmed by interruptions - if an unexpected issue occurs you can prioritise it, but otherwise it goes into the queue.

If you don't need to worry about maintenance or if the project isn't made up of many interconnected parts, you can use a Scrum system. Scrum limits a team to working on a highly specific goal in sprints lasting typically between 2-4 weeks. Its whole idea is to keep the team fully focused on their goal.

Both Scrum and Kanban rely on discipline to work, so make sure your client knows you're not using either just to annoy them.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR BUDGET

Protecting your time is one thing - making sure you get paid for it is another.

Let's look at why we started building a time tracker in the first place - one way of staying profitable is to put a big red price tag on your time.

There are a few benefits to tracking your development time (discussed in more length here), but the two main benefits boil down to business intelligence and transparency.

In jargon-free terms, it gives you the ability to make informed plans and to show your clients how much "small changes" really cost in development time.

Time tracking works because of the way our brains function - we do not really have an accurate sense of time, but rather a pretty terrible perception of it. Consequently, guessing how much time a project might take - especially those ever-changing agile projects - is not significantly more accurate than predicting weather with a magic ball.

True, this might not work with overly eager clients that absolutely insist hovering over your programmers/designers, but it's much, much better than going into a project unarmed.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

How to lead by first principles when everything is at stake

One morning in the depths of the 2001/2002 recession, a decision was looming large at a crucial strategy meeting I had hurriedly called at our offices in Mountain View. It was one of those company defining decisions that come along every so often. And it was clear to all of us in the room that what we decided here would very likely determine whether our startup, Tellme Networks, would live or die.

I turned to one of my team members, a bright Harvard-educated business leader, and asked for his thoughts. He gave a crisp answer on why we should decide in the affirmative. I turned to another team member and asked for her thoughts. She had similar credentials and gave an equally thoughtful explanation of why we should decide in the negative. Two team leaders I respected, each more experienced than I was, were passionate about going in two totally different directions. Everyone turned and looked at me. The pressure was on and my team was divided.

We had been burning cash quickly and Tellme, a service we were well known for that let anyone pick up a phone, say what they wanted and get it (like Siri and Cortana today), was not going to get us to profitability anytime soon. As a result, we focused on selling access to the platform that powered Tellme. We became the world’s first cloud-based speech recognition platform for enterprises and carriers.

After months of hard work and focus we had won accounts like AT&T, Merrill Lynch, American Airlines, and FedEx. But this success inevitably caught the attention of AT&T, our single largest customer and early investor. They decided to compete with us and their executives presented us with an opportunity/ultimatum: license the Tellme platform to AT&T, switch from a cloud model to a software model and focus on the carrier market. They proposed a large upfront payment with an ongoing revenue commitment that would almost certainly swing our startup to profitability.

The decision was stark: finally reach profitability by drastically changing our business model OR double down on a nascent cloud-based business model, lose our largest customer, burn more cash and face a fearsome competitor. Complicating matters further, this was bound to be a deeply controversial situation internally and we risked fracturing our team no matter what we decided.

“You can question my judgement but not my integrity.” — Bill Campbell

There are a variety of ways to make a decision like this. Some leaders, especially founders, use a combination of instinct, passion, and force of personality. Other leaders rely on their sheer intellect, calmly espousing facts and figures that support the direction they think they should go. Still others rely on the power of their position (“I’m CEO so this is what we’re going to do”).

But there’s another way. It was taught to me by Bill Campbell, former CEO of Intuit and legendary coach to Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Ben Horowitz and many other founders. Bill had been coaching me on how to make decisions faster and better. This was a major area I needed to improve on. How could I make a decision when my team members had far more experience than I did (I don’t have a college education and this was my first venture-backed startup), especially when they disagreed with each other? How could I avoid endless debate? How could I break a tie in a credible way? How could I get everyone to support a decision once it was made, even if some didn’t agree with the outcome? How could I avoid my team thinking, “How does Mike know any better than us? He’s never been in this situation before.”

Bill said, “Well, look: I used to tell people, you can question my judgment, but you can’t question my integrity.” He explained that in rare cases you may have to make a judgment call but first you should start by agreeing with your team on what is definitively true about the situation and then let those facts guide your decision.

First principles are a bigger, more powerful force than anyone in the company, including the founders and CEO.

Meanwhile, John Giannandrea, our founding CTO at Tellme (now head of search at Google), had taught me about the power of first principles in science. First principles are not opinions. They are immutable facts, which, once known, can be built upon to enable further discoveries.

John helped me better appreciate what Bill was saying: when faced with a tough decision, seek out the first principles. You can build on each first principle to parse a complex decision into its core elements. If you do this, the right choice often becomes clear to everyone. In a sense, you can let the first principles make the decision for you. First principles are clinical, emotionless and a bigger, more powerful force than anyone in the company, including the founders and CEO.

For this approach to truly work, you as the leader have to act in service to first principles. You have to be totally open to supporting whatever the first principles dictate, no matter how difficult. After all, integrity is all about upholding principles… And principles only matter when they’re hard to keep. It’s not about what you think, what you feel, who gives the most convincing argument, or what your title is. It’s about seeking out and staying true to first principles, especially in the darkest of times.

Ask your team: “What do we know to be true?”

Back in Mountain View with my team, my heart was pounding and I was incredibly uneasy about the building momentum in the room to take the cash, get to profitability, and avoid a potentially catastrophic competitive situation. Abandoning our unique business and becoming yet another software provider to carriers was a huge price to pay for guaranteed profitability. Were we really destined to be a profitable company that nobody really cared about except for a few carriers? Is this what our team signed up for?

Remembering Bill’s advice, I resisted the impulse to argue passionately against the AT&T deal. Instead I asked, as calmly and clinically as I could muster, “What do we know to be true here? For example, can we be both a cloud provider and a software provider?” The answer from the team was swift and unanimous: No, we can’t be both. It would be foolhardy to try and run a cloud service while also trying to be a world class software provider, especially as a startup; we must pick one or risk failing at both. First principle No. 1.

Then I asked, “Assuming we opt to go with this deal, how long will we need to operate our cloud service for our current customers while we build the software for AT&T?” Again the team was quick to answer unanimously: It would likely take two years or more to complete the transition. That would mean being both a cloud service and a software provider for at least two years, an eternity for a startup. See first principle No. 1.

By now bright rays of clarity began to shine in the room. Everyone could sense where this was going. For good measure I asked, “Assuming we elect to compete with AT&T, when could they match our accuracy levels?” (A swing in recognition accuracy of just 1% translates into millions of dollars either spent or saved for enterprises.) Again, the answers came quickly: Even if AT&T could match our software, it would take years more of daily tuning to match our accuracy levels. For the foreseeable future, no customer would be able to financially justify running on AT&T instead of Tellme… not even AT&T. First principle No. 2.

Astonishingly, after 45 minutes of conversation and with only two first principles, we had arrived at the answer to one of the most consequential decisions we had ever faced. Our CEO, whom I had hired a year earlier (I demoted myself to COO but that’s a topic for another post) looked at me and said, “OK, I’ll give AT&T a call and tell them to go pound sand.” The team left the room emboldened and energized. As the years ticked by, AT&T tried and failed to build a competitive service while we continued to rack up win after win. Soon enough a new executive team took hold at AT&T, their competing service was cut, and our partnership grew stronger as they became an even larger, more satisfied customer. I’m proud to say that AT&T is still running on Tellme to this day… try calling 411 from an AT&T phone.

Success is genuine when you stay true to your principles.

So to all you new founders out there, think about Bill’s advice next time you have a critical decision to make with your team. If you seek out and uphold the first principles you will not only make a good decision, you’ll do it in a way which strengthens your team rather than splintering it. Even in the rare case where the decision still doesn’t become obvious and a judgement call must be made, everyone will understand how that call was made and, whether they agree or not, they will be ready to support it.

More importantly, remember this: Years from now, when you look back on your career, and your life, success or failure will matter a lot less than whether you got there by keeping or compromising your principles.

Monday, February 22, 2016

The toy has a 40-round magazine

Parents and pets beware: There’s a new Nerf gun in town and this time, it’s not messing around.

Hasbro revealed new Nerf products at the New York Toy Fair, including the Nerf Rival Khaos. Like its recent predecessor the Rival Apollo, it promises to fire foam bullets at about 68 miles per hour. But this version is much more souped up: It comes with a 40-round magazine to cut down on reloading, and holding down the trigger keeps the balls firing from a conveyor belt inside the toy. Nerf says despite the higher velocity than many kids are used to, the foam bullets don’t hurt or cause welts, theVerge reports.

The Rival Khaos will land in stores in the fall priced at about $70—because what the American child really needs is a deeper love for automatic weaponry.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Your ideal holiday destination may vary from beach vacations to mountain adventures to following a historical trail. Whatever helps you settle in best and find your comfort spot the fastest, we bet these places will do the trick!

1. C̆ESKÝ KRUMLOV, CZECHimage courtesy: worldfortravel

Things to do: Castle exploration, Trip down the river

C̆eský Krumlov is like Prague, just on a smaller and quainter scale. This is a town that has preserved much of the Renaissance period; the narrow lanes of the place are lined with heritage buildings and cozy restaurants.

The town also has a castle, an embodiment of architectural style and cultural traditions and is an important historical site here.

C̆eský Krumlov also has a rich theatrical culture that dates back to the 15th century and today this has spilled over into the street with performers on every corner.

The old-world charm of C̆eský Krumlov is best enjoyed with a trip down the Vltana River allowing you to enjoy a languid day of seeing the sights.

2. YANGSHUO, CHINA

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Bamboo raft-ride, Light show, Tai chi

Yangshou, though slowly turning into a tourist hub, is one of the most spectacularly beautiful towns of China.

Any of the landscapes here will bring to life the picture of a Chinese village as depicted on any of their famous silk paintings.

The breathtaking sceneries bring to life village life practically unchanged from centuries past and an ideal way of exploring the town is either on a bicycle or by taking a bamboo raft-ride.

Light shows and night shows are popular here besides which calligraphy as an art form and Chinese medicine are also ancient traditions that are still widely practiced. Tai chi too is a rather commonly practiced mental and physical activity.

3. ZERMATT, SWITZERLAND

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Skiing, Hiking

Imagine a town where there are no cars. This in itself will make Zermatt a special and unique destination.

Add to this cobbled streets, horse-drawn sleighs and the silence brought by a lack of horns and engines. It’s more than enough to put you in a positive frame of mind.

Zermatt is located at the base of possibly the most popular mountain for skiing, the Matterhorn, and walking down the streets you’re likely to catch a glimpse of the mountain, looming between the chalets and barns.

The diversified cultures of Germany, France and Italy find a home in this small Swiss town with a lot of folklore, traditional music and art finding a place in the everyday lives of the people here.4. CEMORO LAWANG, INDONESIA

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Trekking to volcano, Traditional folklore performances

This little hamlet of a town is located near Mount Bromo, Indonesia. Mount Bromo itself is an active volcano that is constantly smoking lazily.

The town is inhabited by the Tengger tribe, a friendly and approachable people. You can enjoy listening to some interesting folklore from the locals, and perhaps a narration of stories from the Hindu epic Mahabharatha in the Javanese tradition.

5. CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY

IMAGE COURTESY: REDDIT

Things to do: Hot-air ballooning, Biking, Horseback riding

Resembling a creation from a land of whimsy, Cappadocia is a city of the underground. With conical structures dotting the landscape, the people there have created a world within the rocky formations.

There are dwellings, shopping complexes and places of worship in the subterranean regions of the formations.

Cappadocia also has a rich Sufi culture, a long-standing history of pottery-making and beautiful Byzantine paintings from days well past.

6. BLED, SLOVENIA

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Castle exploration, Rowing, Spa treatments

The single island belonging to the country of Slovenia, Bled is an important destination for anyone seeking anything from adventurous experiences to the best spa treatments.

Bled had a tradition of health spas dating back to before it became popular the world-across. It also has some fantastically ancient monuments and galleries where you can appease your artistic side.7. VANG VIENG, LAOS

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Tubing, Blue Lagoon exploration, Zip-lining

For decades, Vang Vieng had been enjoyed by hippies and backpackers as an idyllic lagoon on the Nam Song River. But the 2000s brought about a change; and Vang Vieng gained a reputation as the craziest party spot in Asia.

But this trend of reckless partying changed by 2012 with the introduction of strict government regulations. Vang Vieng today can be enjoyed for its natural beauty which is rife with potential for adventure eco-tourists.

Activities like mountain biking, hiking and kayaking are highly popular along with which one can get a taste of Laos culture and traditions as well.

8. TENBY, WALES

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Heritage tours, Beach hopping, National Park visits

Tenby is a dainty harbour town surrounded by an imposing medieval wall. This picturesque town has an abundance of beaches and cobbled streets lined with pubs and cafes alike.

This serene and attractive location is also steeped in history and a visit to any of the many monuments is proof of the fact.

Caldey Island, the National Park Centre, and the Tudor Merchant’s House are some of the must-see sights of the town.

9. SHIRAKAWA-GO, JAPAN

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Museum visits, Silkworm cultivation

A typical mountain village in Japan, Shirakawa-go is famous for the gassho-style houses. Brightly coloured during springs and blanketed in snow during winters, Shirakawa-go is the picture-perfect fairytale village.

Some of the houses here are over 300 years old and a visit to Wada House and Nagase House lets you learn about how the people lived here in times past.

They are also famed for the ability to raise silkworms even when the winters are harsh. The system the locals employ to build their houses is also a unique one based on cooperation and everyone working together.

10. BO-KAAP, SOUTH AFRICA

IMAGE COURTESY: TRAVELLINGINSTYLE

Things to do: Craft Market visit, Cuisine experimentation, Biking

Bo-Kaap started out as a settlement for slaves and is today a flourishing town of beautifully colourful houses and cuisine that can tingle your taste buds.

The town is located at the foot of Signal Hill and is now a hub for artisans. The multi-faceted heritage of the people who have settled in Bo-Kaap is seen in the variety of music and dance that is a popular practice in the town.

11. SAN QUIRICO D’ORCIA, ITALY

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Spa treatments, Vineyard tours, Heritage visits

Located in the south of Tuscany, San Quirico d’Orcia is an often overlooked travel destination.

Expansive, sweeping landscapes are typical to this town and have been the inspiration for many an artist. For centuries the people here have been living in close harmony with nature and across the countryside you will find hamlets, vineyards and olive groves distributed.

The selection of natural thermal water springs that crop up around the town has led to the development of ancient baths famed for their healing properties.

12. QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking

A town connected through a system of fjords, Qaqortoq would have been an ideal coastal holiday destination if not for the lack of sunny beaches and palm trees. What you have here instead are whales frolicking in the sea amidst the icebergs.

Despite being the largest town in South Greenland, it can be explored on foot with ease. Pretty much all the colourful houses enjoy the luxury of views that people living in crowded cities would be envious of.

The Inuit culture dates back centuries and hunting and fishing are common practices. Qaqortoq is also rich in Norse history and culture and visitors should indulge in exploring the town by hiking and kayaking around the fjords.

13. MOLYVOS, GREECE

IMAGE COURTESY: EXPLOSION

Things to do: Historical tours, Sailing, Biking

Formerly known as Mithymna, Molyvos is a small town built of stone houses and shops. This is the kind of town where stories from Greek mythology was likely played out.

In fact, the Castle of Mithymna featured in the Trojan War. Needless to say, historical ruins are aplenty. The ruins of Troy are also located close to the town.

Today, as you walk down the stone pathways along the centre of town, one of the best treats that can be enjoyed is stopping at any of the hanging verandas for a cup of coffee.

The vista of blue seas ahead of you is an enchanting sight and a perfect accompaniment to taking in the Aegean Sea is to indulge in some local cuisine.

14. COLMAR, FRANCE

IMAGE COURTESY: ELENSTRAVELGRAM

Things to do: Architecture exploration, Gondola riding, Biking

This is the capital of the Alsace wine country and also looks like it’s been plucked out of a folktale. Every corner turned in Colmar is an opportunity for your camera to get to work and for you to gush in admiration of the place.

This quaint little French town has narrow lanes and canals interspersed with bridges and exploring the town is best done on foot or on a bicycle.

They have magnificent churches and museums, and architecture that is charming with bright colours and lovely flowers everywhere.

What was once an ancient trading port, Hoi An is today a well-preserved town boasting of beautiful architecture.

Even in the face of development, Hoi An has preserved its Old Town and a visit to the merchant houses, temples and tea warehouses remain almost as they were in previous times is proof of this.

The influences from Japanese and Chinese cultures is also evident here, especially so in the surviving wooden structures.

Hoi An looks like a town that has more lanterns than people and the warm hospitality of the people will make you feel very welcome indeed.

16. CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO

IMAGE COURTESY: DARIJADICTIONARY

Things to do: Old Town exploration, Spa treatments, Cuisine experimentation

Chefchaouen is unique for the powder-blue palate of its buildings and homes. Just to walk down the narrow lanes and observe the charming blue of the town is a pleasure.

Historically, Chefchaouen became a land of refuge for people being made to feel unwelcome in other countries and now have interwoven the adopted cultures and traditions with their own.

This town is also a wonderful starting point for many kinds of treks leading out and into the adjoining mountains, passing through green forests and providing with stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea.

Chefchaouen is also a haven for foodies as their cuisine is varied and rich in sweets and spices.

17. BIBURY, ENGLAND

IMAGE COURTESY: THOUSANDWONDERS

Things to do: Heritage tours, Biking

Bibury has earned the title of “the most beautiful village in England”, mainly owing thanks to the quaint stone cottages dating back to the 17th century.

The River Coln flows through the village, separating the town from the marshes. You can explore the woods, or go on a heritage tour, or even take it slow and cycle around the town taking in the sights at your leisure.

If you back up your photos on optical disks or storage drives, there’s a good chance your data won’t last as long as you do due to things known as “disc rot” and “data rot“. But what if you want to ensure that your precious photos live longer than you? Good news: a new “eternal” storage technology may be on the horizon.

Scientists have created nanostructured glass discs that can storage digital data for billions of years.Researchers at the University of Southampton announced this week that they’ve figured out how to store huge amounts of data on small glass discs using laser writing. They call it five dimensional (5D) digital data because in addition to the position of the data, the size and orientation plays a role too.

The glass storage discs can hold a whopping 360 terabytes each, are stable at temperatures up to 1,000°C (1,832°F), and are expected to keep the data intact for 13.8 billion years at room temperature (anything up to 190°C, or 374°F).

It’s a discovery that “opens a new era of eternal data archiving” because the discs have “virtually unlimited lifetime,” the university says, and museums, national archives, and libraries could benefit from having this eternal storage.

So far, scientists have preserved important documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Magna Carta, and Kings James Bible on individual discs that will likely survive the human race.

The researchers are now looking for companies to help bring this data storage technology to market. No word on when it might appear or whether it will be available and affordable to ordinary photographers, but perhaps one day we’ll be able to store our entire lifetime body of photos on a single disc that is guaranteed to survive us (and all our descendants).